Kristin Drohan Collection @TwelveChairs

John Canopy Bed from the Kristin Drohan Collection

available at Twelve Chairs in Boston

A couple of weeks ago I attended the launch of the Kristin Drohan furniture collection at Twelve Chairs design studio in Boston. The owners of Twelve Chairs, Miggy Mason and Roisin Giese, are interior designers and purveyors of sustainable furnishings. Their pretty shop, filled with organic wares, has a warm and inviting ambience. It is the perfect spot to host a party! They recently started to carry pieces from Kristin’s line, and the rooms were filled with guests who were invited to check them out “in real life.”

Each piece from the collection is made from reclaimed woods and is marked with its own “Provence.” The fabrics are extremely durable and the eco-friendly soy-based cushions have extreme bounce back (inner coils = no bootie prints on these seats!) The upholstered pieces are also quite beautiful in design, scale and proportion.

Click here to see Kristin describe the anatomy of her collection in her own words.

The Sydney Lounge Chair available at Twelve Chairs

With Kristin Drohan at Twelve Chairs launch

Kristin Drohan Collection in New England Finery Magazine, summer 2011

Kristin was featured in the summer issue of New England Finery Magazine. Shortly after, she moved with her family to Atlanta. It was so nice to meet up with her during her return visit to Boston. Read her design story here.


One of Kristin’s goals when I first interviewed her, was to expand the offering of her collections to a variety of showrooms and geographical markets. She recently had a very successful sale on One Kings Lane in addition to launching at Twelve Chairs. Lots of designers are finding out about her custom-build options ... I think she is well on her way!

Congratulations, Kristin, and thank you Twelve Chairs for hosting such a fun evening! Below are more pics from the party.

My friends and feature contributors to New England Finery:

 designers Rosanne Palazola and Katherine Hawkins

 

Rosanne lounging on The Reagan Sofa at Twelve Chairs.

Dunes and Duchess: Michael Partenio and Stacy Kunstel

with designer Linda Merrill of Surroundings

FYI: Stacy is the honorary chair at this year’s North Shore Design Show at the Wenham Museum. Order your tickets to the Gala event now! It’s always a fun time (I will be there : ) 

This Dunes and Duchess Chappy Table was stunning,

painted in a rich, charcoal blue-gray. 

The console table by the window is another

pretty piece from Dunes and Duchess.

Photographers Greg Premru and Michael Partenio

Window treatment expert Sarah Devaney-O’Neil, designer Barbara Elza Hirsch  
and Elizabeth Wilcox who works with Sarah at Storibook Designs 

Wendy from BDCs Ralph Lauren Home with Erika Johnson from Radiant Republic

and another designer seen in New England Finery Kristen Rivoli

Katie Stinchfield From House Rules (and Rue La La)

with Kate Van Geldern from DomestiKatedLife

Yours truly catching up with Kate.

With designer Julieann Covino, photographer Sarah Winchester

and her adorable new baby girl - the youngest guest on the list!

Mentoring others in design

Ted and Kim Goodnow of Woodmeister Master Builders receive

their Cumar Marble & Granite designed award from publisher of
Design New England, Steve Twombly, and editor Gail Ravgiala

While the design/build field may appear to be a competitive arena, it actually is very much about creative collaboration and the sharing of information. Every feature story that is shown in a major shelter magazine has been touched by teams of professionals who bring to the table their specific set of talents. When these industry experts take what they know and share it with those around them, encouraging others to do the same, the design community as a whole benefits. Last Thursday evening, at the Cyclorama in Boston, a number of design field professionals – who by their very nature make a point of mentoring others – were celebrated and honored with Mentors in Design Awards presented by Design New England Magazine.

Read about the honorees here
Distinguished Mentors: Lynda Onthank, Steve Durkee, Estelle Bond Guralnick Mentors of the Year: Ted & Kim Goodnow

Annabelle’s Garden, oil on linen, John C. Traynor
Fine art and flowers at the 15th Annual
Boston International Fine Art Show

Linda Merrill, Estelle Bond Guralnick, Michael J. Lee, Eric Roth
(Click on links above for their reviews of this event)

Design New England chose to pair this award ceremony with the celebration of their 5th Anniversary in print and hosted it during the gala preview of the Boston International Fine Art Show. Writers, photographers, designers, architects, builders, artists, and editors mingled amidst a backdrop of eye-catching, conversation-starting works of contemporary and traditional art. While networking and socializing with my friends and sometimes co-workers was the highlight of the evening, my only regret is not taking more time to really study the impressive galleries at this show. One of the comments made during the awards presentation was that all of us there were artists in some respect. Whether that art involves dedication to a craft, creation or appreciation, the words rang true.

While I do have a background in fine arts, I haven’t produced an oil painting since college (and they weren’t anything like this one!) At one point in the evening, I was told by Robert Brown and Eliza Tan that I should have my photo taken in front of it since my sweater complimented the colors so nicely. They know what they are talking about, so I obliged : )

Design New England, Nov./Dec. 2011
Cover photo: Jim Westphalen

Design New England, Nov./Dec. 2011, p. 47

If you haven’t seen the 5th Anniversary issue of Design New England yet, it is now available online. Turn to page 47 and you will see one of the first ads I designed as the new marketing director for Designer Bath in Beverly, MA. In this role, I handle all of their ad placements, the design of the ads, plus social media engagement like twitter, facebook and their new design blog.

How does a decorator/magazine editor end up as a full-time marketing director? When I was researching ad sponsorship for the summer issue of New England Finery Magazine, I visited the website for Designer Bath since they were incorporated by designer Pat Finn in her vignette for the Wenham Museum North Shore Design Show last May – one of my feature stories.

Segment produced by America’s Best TV

On their home page Designer Bath posted that they were looking for someone to coordinate photo shoots of high-end baths, design advertising materials, oversee production and placement of television and print media ... I thought to myself “I would love to do that!” When I met with them and shared my background in advertising and design, along with the fact that my husband is a trade professional, it just seemed like the perfect fit at the right time. But rest assured, I am still dedicated to my creative projects including this blog, decorating consultations and the direction of New England Finery. It is the sum of all these related parts that make up my creative whole, and each is essential to who I am as a designer, and an artist.

5 under 40 Snapshots

Clockwise from the top:
Debra Folz, Nima Yadollahpour,
Kelly Smith, Jinhee Park, Rachel Reider
photo credit: Michael Fein

Thursday, September 15th at The Galleria in Boston

Hosted by New England Home Magazine at the Galleria in Boston, the 5 under 40 event showcased carpets custom-designed by 5 of New England’s talented design stars (of the under 40 crowd ; ) Woven by Landry & Arcari, these unique textiles were a brilliant backdrop to a lively evening of industry socializing. Each carpet was auctioned off to the highest bidder with all proceeds donated to Barakat, Inc., a charity based in Cambridge, MA that promotes educational opportunities for women and children in central and south Asia. I took a few photos of the carpets, and a lot more pictures of the crowd ...

Carpet designed by Rachel Reider of Rachel Reider Interiors

Carpet by designer Debra Folz

Designed by Kelly Harris Smith of FilzFelt

With designer Rosanne Palazola of Focus on Design

With new friends of mine, Robin Davis and
Sharon Hunt of Designer Bath in Beverly

Rosanne with event sponsor Leslie Fine of Leslie Fine Interiors and
latest New England Finery cover photographer Michael J. Lee, who
with his dapper white-trimmed jacket ended up in a lot of candids!

Michael with Linda Merrill of Surroundings
and The Skirted Roundtable

Michael with New England Icons photographer Greg Premru

Michael with John Kelsey of Wilson Kelsey Design

In the middle: Joanne DiFrancesco of JD Communications
Left: Adam Graber, Vice President of Sales at GerrityStone

Chris Kelly, Fifth House PR with Sarah DiFrancesco, State Street

Julieann Covino of Jace Interiors on the left

with interior designer Katie Rosenfeld, and on
the right with Sage from Mally Skok Design



Thank you New England Home Magazine
for hosting another fun design event!

End note: Photographer Michael J. Lee will be getting on his bike to ride 100 miles next weekend to benefit the Big Brothers, Big Sisters foundation. Click here to read more about Michael’s ride and to support him in reaching his fund raising goal.
Good luck, Michael!

Working with professional photographers

Photographers Michael J. Lee and Eric Roth

working side by side at the North Shore Design Show
held May 14th – 22nd at the Wenham Museum.

Well the North Shore Design Show at the Wenham Museum has come and gone. *SIGH.* I went in on Monday to pack up my space, and say my thank-yous and goodbyes. A lot of the designers were there, and we were all feeling a bit sad to dismantle our very personal works of art.

On the upside, last Friday I was fortunate enough to have my space shot by professional photographer, Michael J. Lee. So even though many of the pieces have been returned, put away or put back in use (my foyer was looking decidedly barren without its skirted round table and one set of drapes) at least the design moment that was created for the show has been captured with some really great photos. I was actually quite spoiled this year because at the gala preview party, Eric Roth also took photos of my vignette (along with some great people shots) which he shared with me on Friday.

I am saving the professional images for the next issue of New England Finery Magazine, but I have plenty of snapshots of my own to share with you here on the blog.

I require all of my photographer friends to put down
their cameras and have their own picture taken : )

Michael shot a few spaces that day, and it was really fun to watch him rearrange the vignettes to get their best angle. Eric was doing the same, and there was a lot of back and forth between the designers and the photographers in order to represent the spaces in a way that would use color, light and scale to visually engage a viewer. When we design our vignettes for the show, it is for a slightly different interaction with an audience who is able to walk around the spaces and then look at the pieces up close. On “film,” depth and contrast is trickier to achieve, but these guys really know how to make the rooms come alive.

Michael has recently had his work featured in New England Home Magazine (May/June 2011 p. 58-60), Boston Common Magazine (May/June 2011 p. 80-83) and Boston Globe Magazine (5/22/11) and has shot most of the covers of Surroundings Magazine for South Shore designer, Linda Merrill. Check out Michael’s blog to see what else he has been up to (he is very busy!)

I actually heard a lot about Michael’s design process by listening to him on one of the Skirted Roundtable podcasts which feature fabulous interviews with members of the design field (Linda Merrill is one of the three moderators). During his interview, Michael offered a lot of great tips for those of us who are trying to take better photos of our own, along with sharing a bit about how he went from working in the interior design field to photographing it for others. Click here to learn more about Michael J. Lee and photographing architectural spaces.





I was happy to lend some of our more colorful props to Eric who was shooting for Marshall Whitman Design. I came with all kinds of additional items for my space (per Michael’s professional recommendation) including oranges, strawberries, cherries, croissants, more plates and serving pieces. I figured whatever we didn’t use we would at least have it to eat after the shoot, but Eric sent his lovely assistant/daughter Maddie out to get us some lunch in the middle of the day, so we were well taken care of. I had the best carrot ginger soup from Grassy Roots Gourmet which is right around the corner from the Wenham Museum. I highly recommend it! Yum!!




John Kelsey of Wilson Kelsey Design also brought a “prop” for his scheduled photo shoot with Eric. This cute little guy was one of the guests at the table that John and wife Sally set for the show.

His very elegant home away from home.

Packed up and ready to head home!

Our day of taking pictures was one of the highlights of my week at the show. While the process of figuring out and executing a design is satisfying in itself, being able to collaborate with other design professionals to record our combined visual thoughts requires action and engagement in order to produce the very best still life. Thank you, Michael and Eric, for sharing your creative talents with me! Be sure to subscribe to New England Finery Magazine (it’s free) and you will know right away when the professional images from the show are online.

Tweet up at 12 Chairs

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a Boston design industry tweet-up hosted at 12 Chairs on A Street in Boston. This Fort Point based interior design studio and home furnishings shop, run by Roisin Giese and Miggy Mason, offers a well-edited selection of sustainable design goodies, gift items and furniture. They also display local artists ... I loved this painting of a city alley (above photo, right-hand corner) which reminded me of a recent New England Finery photo shoot in the North End (see page 40 of the April/May issue).

From left: Roisin, Miggy, Jennifer and Julieann

The event was put together by social media wonder Julieann Covino of Jace Interiors along with Jennifer Driscoll, editor of Perspective Magazine, another digital design publication which features architectural design in New England. The event took place just a day after the launch of New England Finery issue 2, so Jen and I had a lot to talk about! Perspectives Magazine already has 7 issues published, and Jen was more than generous in sharing her tips in running a successful design magazine online.



Sharing ideas and resources along with celebrating Boston-based design was the objective of this get together. As Julieann mentioned, Boston has a strong design community, and while it is great to connect on twitter and facebook (which is how many of us communicate), seeing each other “in real life” at these types of gatherings is a great way to really get to know the many talented people in our business.




I went to the event with my friend Rosanne, and we enjoyed some delicious munchies, wine and Prosecco (my favorite ; ) while chatting with new and old friends. While I didn’t take a lot of people pictures (we were too busy talking) here are some quick mentions of who was in attendance ...


Linda Merrill of Surroundings (another designer with a great digital design magazine) who I have mentioned numerous times on this blog!

Photographer Michael J. Lee, who actually shoots all the covers for Surroundings Magazine and whose work has been seen in a wealth of other shelter publications (he even made it in New England Finery, see page 32-33 of issue 2).

Designer Leslie Fine, who wrote an article for New England Finery issue 2 (see pages 28 – 31). While we were talking that night, she mentioned an upcoming project to design a 20 x 30 foot display area for the Residential Design and Construction Show for New England Home Magazine (who we have both guest blogged for recently). Take a look at how it came out by visiting her design blog. Fabulous!

I also got to meet Katie Rosenfeld a designer from Weston who I had only “spoken with” on twitter previously. We had discovered online that we both attended Boston College around the same time. We have probably crossed paths many times without realizing it!





I met others including lifestyle blogger Erika Johnson of Radiant Republic, designer Rachel Reider who just won this award, artist Marilyn MacLeod, photographer Sarah Winchester, remodeling expert David West, and Christina Tassie Miller of the PR firm J.D. Communications.

Lots of design-related professionals were there, so if you are in the area and would like to meet a bunch of creatives at the next event, contact Julieann at Jace Interiors and she will make sure you get an invitation.




And did I mention there were prizes? I actually won this gorgeous silk/cotton ikat pillow from Fabricadabra. It is going to a special someone who has just this color on one of the walls in her home. If you are reading this, Mom, pretend that you are surprised when you get it ; )

Thanks to Julieann, Jennifer, Miggy and Roisin for hosting this fun event. I look forward to seeing you and everyone else at the next one!